VLD Whump Week
by Rangergirl3
Summary: Best. Week. Ever. At least for us readers/writers of all things hurt/comfort. Originally posted on my Tumblr page for VLD Whump Week. I'll try to fill all the prompts at some point but for now, here ya go.
1. Day 1 - Fever

For as long as Keith could remember, he'd just powered his way through any sickness or injury he got mostly through a combination of stubbornness, willpower, and what was, apparently, an _appallingly_ high tolerance for pain.

He didn't know so much about that last one - it wasn't like he was immune to feeling discomfort - but he'd just always assumed that if it didn't kill him immediately, it shouldn't be considered a big deal.

So of _course_ he hadn't wanted to admit he was sick, but when he'd shown up for breakfast and the very sight of food made him nauseous, he'd known this was going to be a bad day.

He didn't throw up, not then, but he didn't come further into the dining room. Instead, he leaned against the wall in the hallway and tried not to breathe in too deeply - but the smell was -

Oh, no.

Before he knew it, he was on his hands and knees, throwing up whatever the food goo had been supposed to be last night, and after a few startled seconds, there were a lot of raised and concerned voices gathering near him, and he wished he'd just stayed in his room, instead of being out here, where the lights were too bright and everyone was being too loud.

Then someone was rubbing his back encouragingly, saying something about it being okay, and although it didn't really change the fact that he'd never felt worse in his life, it helped, a little.

At some point they'd helped him back to his room, and as far as he could tell, now he was lying on his bed, wishing he didn't feel so - awful.

He'd shut his eyes long ago, trying to block out the faint light from the hallway, but the door was still half-open, and he could hear what the others were talking about in the hallway.

"-I don't like this, his fever's way too high -"

"-maybe he should - sleep?"

"You've seen him, he can't get to sleep, and anyway, we have to make sure he gets water soon - it'll be even worse if he gets dehydrated -"

"-not if he's only going to throw it up again, that's way too hard on his system, we should see if there's anything around here that might help bring a fever down -"

* * *

As time passed, he found the worst part about the fever was the thirst.

"... _please_...?" he asked, and from somewhere nearby, he felt Katie pat his shoulder, once, an awkward attempt at sympathy.

"No, Keith, we gotta wait - at least another twenty minutes, remember?"

He did, but he didn't want to.

His head ached, he was cold all over but his skin felt far too warm, and whenever he moved, every inch of his body hurt. His mouth was dry, and it had been for what felt like forever. He couldn't stop shivering, even though Hunk and Lance had piled what felt like six blankets on top of him before going with Coran to go look through the various Altean remedies they had on the ship.

…and he thought that…Allura was…probably…somewhere…doing…something…

Keith knew dimly that it was _not_ a good thing that he felt this listless, but he was so _thirsty_. It was all he could think about. But every time he'd tried drinking even a small amount of water, he'd thrown it up within a few minutes, and it just made everything worse.

But now Katie was saying that she'd had an idea, and then something soft and cool touched his forehead even as she went on talking, keeping her voice pitched low and gentle.

"See, we can't try having you drink any water right now, but we can try helping you cool off with this, okay? My brother used to do this for me when I was sick, and it helped me feel - less awful - and I found some ice chips, too, so your mouth won't be so dry- um - I know it's not a cure, but -"

* * *

Katie hadn't been sure if this wet-washcloth-soaked-in-cold-water-over-the-forehead thing would help, because sometimes, when she'd been little, she hadn't liked the way the water dripped down her face or soaked into her hair, but Keith had just looked and sounded so _listless_ , she'd figured it was at least worth a try.

The worst that could happen was that it didn't help, or he didn't want it, and that wouldn't be a problem at all, he didn't have to keep it on his forehead if he didn't like it, there wasn't a law or anything saying it _had_ to be helpful -

But when she placed the folded, damp cloth onto his forehead, her fingertips brushed his skin, and she held back an exclamation of concern only because she was focusing on telling him about how this might help him feel better.

 _Shit_ , this fever was a _bad_ one.

But it would be fine, of course it would be, they were on a freaking _Castleship_ for the love of God, of course there would be some kind of medicine to help bring down a fever, it wasn't like this was going to kill him, he was tough, he was one of the toughest people she knew -

Her thoughts were rambling, she knew, and she tried not to say everything she was thinking out loud, but sometimes - okay, quite often - the words just wouldn't stop coming and she'd try to string all the ideas together into something coherent but a lot of the time it just all came out in a rush and -

But tension had eased out of Keith's shoulders, and she sighed in relief. A few ice chips later, it looked like he felt a little - just a little - bit better.

Good, good, this was helping him feel not-so-bad, that was good - wait -

Keith was - Keith was -

His eyes were still closed, but it looked like - he might be - tearing up?

She bit her lip, thinking over if she'd said anything about Shiro, but she was pretty sure she hadn't.

So why was Keith _sad_?

* * *

He heard her ask him what was wrong, and then curse at herself in frustration because she remembered that it was difficult for him to talk right now.

"Shit, sorry, Keith, you're fine, uh - yeah - so - just keep - trying to rest, all right? - I'm going to -"

Pidge was really….funny…when she rambled…

Keith liked being near her, liked hearing her voice, even liked it when she started talking about things he didn't quite follow, because it meant she was _thinking_ , and Pidge was always thinking about a million times faster than he ever could. She was brilliant, one of the smartest people he'd ever met, and she was…

She was his friend.

He hadn't been tearing up because he was sad.

It had been for a different reason altogether.

When he'd been younger, Shiro had helped him when he was sick, but ever since then, he'd just taken care of himself and not really thought much about how having someone else - a friend - nearby could be so…nice.

She and the others had taken the time to try and help him feel better, and amid the haze of the fever, that had helped _so_ much. He wished he could tell her that he appreciated it, but as usual, the words just wouldn't come to him.

Instead, he turned his face a little more towards one side, so that he faced her, so that he could stay close to her as long as possible.

He hoped she would stay, but there were other things that needed her attention. He'd understand if she -

Then her fingers moved the hair out of his eyes, and he felt his shoulders relax again at her touch, and before he could think about what he was saying, he just said it.

"…'re…so…nice…" he said, and a second or two went by before she replied, her voice catching as she did.

" _Aw_ ," she said, but there was no hint of mockery in her tone as she said the words. "You big old _softie_."

She switched out the compress for another one, as she said, very kindly, "Of _course_ I'll stay."


	2. Day 3 - Near Death

As the ringing in his ears subsided, the Red Paladin tried to figure out what the hell had just happened.

An attack?

An earthquake?

Whatever had happened, it had - been - really bad.

An explosion, maybe?

They'd been near the Castle, with - Kolivan - and - the Blade of Marmora - and then -

The air felt - wrong - and something heavy was pressing down on his chest, on his legs, and he couldn't move his arms. Even as his world went white with pain, Keith tried to move, and when he couldn't, he tried to open his eyes, but he couldn't even manage that.

Was he trapped beneath rubble?

Then there was noise, a lot of noise around him, and he could hear the others calling his name, but when he tried to answer, he couldn't. He couldn't even - get enough breath - and his chest - hurt -

Panic surged through him, and fear, and a sense of impending finality.

It hurt, it hurt, it _hurt_ and he couldn't get air, he couldn't tell his friends where he was, he was being crushed by degrees and it was agony, and he couldn't even scream, he couldn't do anything but just lie here, under what felt like a thousand pounds of rock and rubble.

More voices, again, even closer this time, and they were worried, and he wanted to tell them where he was, but -

"There! I see him!"

"Are you sure? We can't risk moving him unless we're sure, that whole thing's about to collapse - if it falls onto him even his armor won't be able to protect him -"

 _Too late_ , he thought, but when he tried to say so, he only coughed up blood, and the sound, weak though it was, was heard.

"Shitshitshit it's him, it's him and he's hurt, come on come on come on, let's go let's go let's go -"

"Okay - okay - on three -"

Keith thought he heard the sounds of people moving quickly into position, and through an immense effort of will, he managed to open one eye. His vision was blurred, hazy, and he couldn't make out any details of the area around him, but the little light he could see was too bright, and he shut his eye again as the sounds around him grew louder.

Too much noise, too much movement, too much, too much, too much. He felt _sick_.

Someone grabbed him, the weight above him shifted away, and then he was pulled free of the rubble, and finally, the pain hit him.

He hadn't thought he could scream.

He'd been wrong.

* * *

Hands. Hands were touching his face, his arms, his chest, and there were voices, lots of voices, and it was all too loud and too bright, and he hurt, he hurt everywhere, and he didn't want them to touch him - all he wanted to do was breathe, but his lungs wouldn't work right -

Something was still wrong -

 _What's wrong with me -_

Fear pulsed through him, white-hot and vicious, and he tried again to ask, but his lungs - wouldn't - work the way they were supposed to -

He felt a hand brush across his forehead, and then - someone - Allura? - was telling him to relax, that it was going to be okay -

 _Liar -_

He couldn't breathe, how was _that_ okay -

He jerked his head angrily away from her, trying again to open his eyes, but his eyelids wouldn't open now - why wouldn't they open -

"Hunk, he's freaking out -"

 _Lance?_

"Okay, okay, here, I can help -"

Water trickled down his skin, and then what felt like Hunk's headband patted against his forehead.

"-it's okay, Keith, it's just some blood - um - on your face - it's okay - "

Keith jerked his head away again, snarling weakly, because he didn't _care_ about the blood on his face, that wasn't _important_ -

Pidge's voice, short and abrupt and high in panic.

"This is _bad_ , guys - we need to get him to the healing pods, _right now_ \- "

Allura's voice again, sharp with fear as well.

"We can't just move him without - "

There were so people around him, so many voices, but - where was -

"...Shiro..." He whimpered, and the noise around him seemed to fade for a second.

He didn't care, he didn't care if anyone saw him crying, he didn't care if they thought he was weak or stupid, he didn't care at all. He just wanted his brother.

"... _Shiro_..."

Someone near him swore, vehemently.

More voices above his head, something about getting a stretcher, readying a healing pod, but the pain was crashing down onto him again, and the world blurred out into sounds and light and all he knew was that he didn't want to be alone.

 _Please, I'm sorry, please don't leave -_

There were running footsteps that faded away into the distance, and he didn't even try to keep from crying then.

 _They'd left him, they always left him, and there was nothing he could say or do to make them want to stay -_

Another hand - an unfamiliar one, with clawed fingers - grasped his forearm, and Keith thought he heard Kolivan start to reassure him, that it was no easy thing for a Blade to die, and that Keith had many long solar cycles still ahead of him - but - but everything _hurt_ , and Keith didn't have any breath to spare, he didn't have any - at all - and everything - just - _hurt_ -

Even as his awareness fractured and split apart, someone picked him up and began carrying him, and he knew he must have screamed again, and he hated himself for this, for being so weak, it was stupid, it was -

...was...

His vision whited out again, but then he was on - some sort of table - and hands were touching him again, and he tried to fight them off, because all he felt was pain, but then -

Other hands, stronger hands, gripping his forearms, forcing them down by his sides until clamps activated, and then Keith tried to kick his way free, but they'd secured his legs, too, and his head hurt too much and he couldn't get enough air and all he wanted was for the pain to stop, and to see his brother again.

Where was Red?

Where was...anyone?

Then Coran's voice, steady and reassuring.

"Keith, we're starting the healing pod - it's all right - we're here for you."

He heard a soft, hissing sound somewhere near his head, a cool mist settle onto his skin. With a final effort, he forced his eyes open, and saw Allura, Coran, and Kolivan all standing directly outside the pod.

Kolivan had...blood...on his clothes. He must have been the one to carry Keith down the corridors.

The last thing Keith wondered, before the healing cycle began, was how Kolivan had known where the infirmary was.


End file.
